Air conditioning apparatus



Jan. 29, 1935. A. A. CRIQUI ET AL AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed July 24, 1953 w W R C A T R E B L n m ROGER T THORTON Patented Jan. 29, 1935 1,989,228 AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Albert A. Criqui and Rog N. Y., assignors to Bufl'alo,

er T. Thornton, Buffalo, Buffalo Forge N. Y., a corporation of New Company, York Application July 24, 1933, Serial Iva 681,865

2 Claims. (01. 261-15) Our invention relates generally to air conditioning apparatus, and in particular to an apparatus for conditioning air used in household heating systems.

The principal object of our invention has been to provide means whereby the proper amount of moisture may be added to the air used in a heating system.

Another object has been to provide means which will automatically regulate the amount of moisture through the medium of the temperature of the heating means.

Moreover, our invention is of such a nature that it may be controlled by hand or any suitable regulating device, such as a thermostat or hygrostat.

Furthermore, the means employed in our invention for adding moisture to the air is simple and durable, and inexpensive to manufacture.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of our complete device with a portion thereof in cross-section, such 25 cross-section being taken on line 11 of Fig. 2.'

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, transverse, sectional elevation, taken on line 2'2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional elevation of the humidifying means of our device.

Our invention is designed primarily for use in air conditioning and to be used in connection with warm-air heating appliances. In carrying out our invention, we prefer to withdraw the air from the rooms being heated and to force it up through suitable heating means, giving it the proper humidity and then directing it through suitable ducts to the room or rooms being heated.

A preferred form of apparatus is shown in the drawing in which 5 represents'a hot water or steam boiler and 6 our conditioning apparatus. The apparatus comprises a casing 7 having an inlet opening 8 at the back wall 20 thereof in which is mounted a filter 9. Connected to the opening 8 is the return duct 10 of the apparatus into which all air being drawn from the rooms is conducted. An inclined plate 11 is arranged in front of the opening 8 and extends across between the side walls 19 of the casing. This wall projects downwardly and inwardly toward the center of the casing. Intermediate walls 13 and 14 are provided and these form the side walls of a centrifugal fan 15 which is suitably mounted upon a shaft 16. This fan is preferably of the double type having an inlet eye 17 at each side thereof. These eyes are formed in or attached some distance from the to the intermediate walls snail shaped casing 18 is The intermediate walls 1 13 and 14. The usual provided for the fan. 3 and 14 are spaced outer side walls 19 of the casing, whereby passageways 21 are provided. These passageways are closed on the top by means of narrow top walls 22. The passageways 21 communicate with the space enclosed between the inclined wall 11 and the filter 9 and provide two inlet ducts for feeding air to the eyes 17 of 10 the fan. The casing of the fan is provided with an outlet duct 23 which directs the air upwardly into an upper humidifying chamber 24.

On top of the humidifying chamber 24 is mounted a number of heating elements 30. 15 These are standard articles of manufacture and each comprises a series of tubes 31 through which heating medium such as hot water or steam is conducted. The upper of the two heating units shown is connected b boiler 5 and the outlet of the bottom heating unit 30 is connected by means of piping 33 to the return of the boiler. The units are connected together by means of piping 34. On top of the heating unit 30 is a duct manifold 35 to which are attached the usual hot air pipes 36 for conducting conditioned .air to the rooms being heated.

Suitably mounted within the humidifying chamber 24 is the humidifying means 40 of our device. This-is located between the fan 15 and the heating units 30 and comprises an elongated tank 41 open on its top and provided with a heating coil 42 which is connected by means of piping 43 to the piping 32 and 33 of the boiler for conducting heating medium to the heating coil. A valve 44 is preferably placed in the line 43 connecting the heating coil with the supply pipe 32, whereby the amount of hot water or steam passing through the heating coil may be controlled, thus governing the temperature of the water in the tank. Water is supplied to the tank 41 through a supply pipe 45 and a float valve 46 having a float 47 serves to maintain the level of the Waterwithin the tank so that as 45 evaporation occurs water is permitted to enter the tank and thus the water will be kept at the proper level. Arranged at one edge of the tank 41 is a regulating air deflector 48 which is concave upon its under .surface, as shown, and 50 which is pivoted to the upper edge of the tank so that it may be rotated from full line position to, any other position, such as the one shown in dotted lines (see Fig. 3). This deflector may be controlled automatically by a hygrostat (not y means of piping 32 to the 20 shown) or it may be controlled manually from the outside of the casing. Owing to the fact that the deflector directs the air across the surface of the water in the tank at considerable velocity, the tank may be made small and consequently the size of the humidlfying chamber may be kept to a It will be seen that by the regulation of the deflector the velocity of the air passing over the surface of the water is increased or decreased, thereby affecting the rate of evaporation from such surface.

As shown by the arrows in the drawing, the air coming through the air duct is filtered by passage through the filter 9 and is deflected downwardly and toward each side wall 19 of the casing whence it passes through the inlet passages 21 to the inlet eyes 17 of the fan. The rotating fan draws the air in through the inlets and projects it upwardly through the outlet passage 23 and into the humidifying chamber 24. The boiler having been fired steam or hot water is supplied to the heating units 30 at proper temperature which is preferably controlled by suitable thermostatic means of standard design and, therefore, not shown or described. Heating medium at boiler temperature is also supplied through the valve 44 to the heating coil 42 of the humidifier and the water contained within the tank 41 is thereby heated. It will be obvious that the vapor pressure of the water in the tank is controlled by the temperature of the water, and that the rate of evaporation is governed by vapor pressure.

It will be clear, therefore, that the regulation of the amount of moisture given of! to the air is substantially automatic. For instance, when the outside temperature drops, higher boiler temperatures are required to meet the demands of the desired inside temperature. With the increased boiler temperature, there will be a corresponding increase of the temperature of the water in the water tank and a consequent increase in evaporation. Since greater amounts of moisture are required in the air at higher temperatures,

such increase in water evaporation will thus automatically take care of the necessary increase in the moisture required to give to the heated air the proper relative humidity. By means of the defiector 48, the rate of water tank may be regulated very accurately.

evaporation from the Because the rate of evaporation and vapor pressure is controlled by the temperature of the heating medium in the heating coil, and the temperature of this heating medium is controlled by the temperature of the boiler, the ordinary thermostatic household control which is commonLv used in controlling temperature will also automatically control our humidifying means without the use of a hygrometer or other humidifying controls.

It is obvious that instead of heating all the air which is returned from the rooms, part of such air conducted through the apparatus and returned to the rooms may be outside air. This is common furnace practice, and may be carried out by means of dampers (not shown) but well known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, if desired, the valve 44 may be controlled automatically by well known standard equipment.

Obviously, these and other modifications of the details herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention or the scope of the appended claims, and we do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the form shown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. 7

Having thus described our invention, claim is:

1. In an air conditioning apparatus, the combination-with a'source of heat, heating units connected with such source of heat, and a fan for forcing air through such heating units, of humidifying means located .betweenthe fan and the heaters comprising a water tank, heating means located in the water tank for increasing the temperature, and an adjustably mounted air deflector disposed over the tank.

2. In an air conditioning apparatus, the combination with a source of heat, heating units connected with such source of heat, and a fan for what we forcing air through such heating units, of humidmeans located between the fan and the heaters comprising a water tank, heating means located in the water tank for increasing the temperature, means for supplying water to the tank, means for maintaining the level thereof, and an adjustably mounted air deflector mounted over the tank.

ALBERT A. CRIQUI.

' '1. THORNTON. 

